Mar 21, 2007Second Place at Silicon Valley!
A huge thanks to alliance partners
Athenian Robotics (852) and Franklin High School (488), we really took it to em!
The Silicon Valley regional was exciting and worthwhile, even though we were beaten in the last elimination round. We were the #1 seeded team for most of Friday, but by the choosing we had moved to number 8th. However, our alliance perservered until we were finally beaten in the last round.
Feb 21, 2007Robot is done
The robot has been shipped, and as of the last build day all systems are functioning but for the ramp and the wrist. The robot, dubbed "mabear," was a complex and gratifying build, and it will not fail to impress at competition. This date also marks the launch of
the Robots Page, dedicated to chronicling past Menlo-Atherton Robotics designs and accomplishments.
Jan 6, 2007KICKOFF!
Today marked the 2007 F.I.R.S.T. kickoff. Team members attended a joint kickoff session with
Woodside High School (100) and Sacred Heart (2166).
The game involves innertubes being placed on 24 prongs sticking out of a cylinder in the center of the field. Like, the 2005 game, more points are scored if the tubes are in long rows or columns, and bonus points may be scored for having the robot high on the ramp at the end of the match. This year is more interesting because there are now classes of robots- sacrificing height for weight or vice versa and plenty of opportunities to turn games around. The joint kickoff was followed by presentations of robot designs, and the abundance of ideas made it clear that while the season is just beginning we will not have the design troubles of last year's robot.
We look forward to seeing you all at the regionals.
Oct 15, 2006Calendar is updated
The
Calendar is now updated. Currently there are listings for the build sessions up to
CAL games but
post-kickoff plans are yet to be determined. The calendar
will be updated, so check it frequently to learn of
upcoming events.
Sep 03, 2006Cal Games is ON!
Team 766 will be attending the CAL games which are held at
Pioneer on October 28, from 9 to 5. All those interested in seeing the robot in action should attend.
May 21, 2006
M-A Robotics concludes Season
May 20 marked the close of the season with a post-nationals open-house party. While not wholly successful at Nationals, we did raise money for next year with a carwash and increased team awareness and membership. At the open-house, guests were treated to food, music, arts & crafts, videos of 2006 and 2005 competitions, and appearences by the respective robots from those years. A good time was had by all, and we look forward to the summer postseason.
March 18, 2006
2006 SILICON VALLEY REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
First of all, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came down to San Jose to support us. And thank you to team #254, the
Cheesy Poofs, and team #581,
Bulldog Robotics. We couldn't have done it without you.
And thank you to teams #668, #1280, and #1693 for a thrilling final round.
Hope to see you all in Atlanta!
March 15, 2006
Our new team picture (Thanks Doug!).
Team Photo '06
We have been featured in the
Almanac. Thanks
JoAnne Goldberg for increasing public awareness about Menlo-Atherton Robotics.
February 21, 2006
Not only did the robot ship today, a ton of new photos have been added to the
multimedia section. We look forward to
beating seeing everyone at the swiftly approaching Sacramento and Silicon Valley Regionals.
January 26, 2006
Thanks to Jaime, we now have
three new videos available to download, over in our
multimedia section. Go check out our
new launcher!
January 8, 2006
As mentioned on our
updated calendar, the new competition started yesterday with a kickoff meeting, and the whole team came in to brainstorm and prepare. The game should be fun, with the field somewhat resembling basketball. Seven inch Nerf balls may be thrown into robots by human players or collected off the floor by a "harvesting" device and then thrown into a center raised goal, or pushed into one of two corner goals. There are some twists in the rules this year, largely changing the competition from last year.
Under section 5.3.1, clause R04,
wedges are no longer permitted, probably because of the many incidents last year. Robots this year will likely be shorter too, making it more difficult for them to fall over, as the robot may never exceed 60 inches in height, eliminating dunking and arms that block the high goal, requiring all robots aiming for the center goal to use a firing mechanism. In addition, the new "defensive" periods will probably make this game more "physical," though hopefully all the robots will still be standing at the end, unlike the unfortunate few that would essentially have to sit out a match after being shoved over, or falling. All in all, this year's game looks to be very exciting, and because of the firing mechanism, may be a much harder engineering feat.
The
FIRST 2006 rule manual is available from their site.
